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Swift TG Energy (Scotland) is pleased to announce that it has successfully been awarded a grant from Innovate UK, as part of the recent Energy Catalyst round of funding. The award is for the development of Swift's new innovative vertical axis wind turbine, the WindSurf. The grant totalling £421,955 will be used to help complete the research and development stage of the project, and finalise the manufacture of two full-scale prototype turbines.

Swift TG Energy (Scotland) is a home-grown technology company focussing on renewable energies. The Windsurf turbine, which has been described as ‘the next generation of urban wind power technology’, promises to overcome a number of the technical and economic challenges that arise when generating power from the complex airflows found in urban and brownfield spaces. With this turbine, Swift aims to pave the way forward for more localised, urban wind power generation.

Sam Dickinson, Project Lead, is delighted with the successful grant application, ‘It is extremely exciting to gain this recognition on the Windsurf project. We have been working on this development as an internal technology demonstrator for some years but this award means that we now have the capacity to move the project forward. The Innovate UK grant is a key building block in our plans to bring this to a wider audience. Innovate UK is well established in working with companies and partnerships across the UK trade and investment community, as well as academia, and tapping into this network is the logical next step. The Windsurf is a truly innovative design, developed using cutting edge technology from the outset and we will now have the means to demonstrate how this can contribute to delivering clean energy for the future’.

The project will be delivered in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh, who have also received funding from EPSRC for this project, and Autarke UK. The university's Institute for Energy Systems will be working in collaboration with Swift on the electrical design elements whilst Autarke UK will be assisting with the ongoing commercialisation of the turbine and the development of future sales prospects, initially in Europe but ultimately on a global stage.

During the initial stages of the project, Swift will also completing a significant renovation of a near-derelict industrial unit in the Granton area of Edinburgh. This will be used as a manufacturing base, complementing the existing design office in the city. The whole team are based in the Edinburgh area and hope that the future growth of the business will contribute to renewables technology innovation in Scotland.

Sam continues: “we are currently working through the research and development stage of the project, however, the medium-term plan has already highlighted the need to establish a more extensive manufacturing facility and build the associated supply chain. It is my goal that we will continue to grow this business in Scotland.”

The UK and Scottish governments have both committed to generating increasing percentages of their electricity demand from renewable sources in the coming years. Swift TG Energy (Scotland) hopes to put its name, and Edinburgh, firmly on the map for the supply of urban turbines in the future to help meet this target.

Swift TG Energy (Scotland) is part of the Swift Technology Group, a wholly British technology company working within renewables, Oil & Gas and aviation sectors. For more information, please visit www.swifttg.com.​Innovate UK is the UK’s innovation agency. It works with people, companies and partner organisations to find and drive the science and technology innovations that will grow the UK economy. For more information, visit www.innovateuk.gov.uk